Vatican City, Apr 4, 2019 / 04:00 am (CNA).- Pope Francis Thursday named Archbishop Wilton Gregory the Archbishop of Washington, succeeding Cardinal Donald Wuerl.

Archbishop Wilton Gregory, 71, is the Archbishop of Atlanta, where he has served since 2004.

Gregory will be the first African-American Archbishop of Washington, a historic milestone for the Church in the United States underscored by the April 4 anniversary of Martin Luther King’s assassination 51 years ago.